Self Help Groups and Drought Resilience: Lessons from Ethiopia
The Tufts Feinstein International Center evaluated the role of Self Help Groups in building drought resilience in the 2015/2016 drought in Ethiopia. The study found that mature Self Help Groups were better able to protect their livestock, better able to reduce their group savings without reducing payments, and better able to maintain their household food supply. A culture of group savings, combined with increased confidence in their own capacity, strong social cohesion and solidarity, and a strong bond between facilitators and their groups combined with technical support, were key factors that allowed these groups to be more resilient.